In a personal Amazing Race recap/prediction first, the first leg aligned quite nicely with my gut reaction/first impressions of the teams. The teams I picked to make the final three actually ended up in the top three at the end of the first leg. Plus, one of teams I pegged as an early elimination did in fact go home (adios, Matt & Daniel, the South Carolinian firefighters we didn’t get to know). I will cling to this personal victory because I doubt it will last. In fact, one of those teams appears to be slipping already if the previews are to be believed (which they shouldn’t be but I always allow the preview to taint my rankings).

Here are my rankings of these teams heading into the second leg.

John & Jessica (Dating/adrenaline junkies): My initial prediction that they would win it all got a bit of validation in the premiere when they sailed to an uncontested first place finish on that leg. As the proud owners of an Express Pass and being the Key Master of another Express Pass, John & Jessica are well-positioned and on their way to repeating the dominance of Meghan & Cheyne from a few seasons ago. It is hinted in the previews that they are waffling a bit on their alliance’s agreement to give the second Pass to the next team to finish from their alliance. This shows me that they aren’t just looking to dominate physically but approaching the Race strategically. They take the top ranking this week and quite possibly will stay at or near the top until the end.

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Anthony & Bates (Brothers/Pro Hockey players): After the first leg, Team Slapshot here seems poised to challenge John & Jessica’s frontrunner status. They overcame the unfortunate placement on the second flight into Bora Bora but stayed well ahead of that pack of teams. To make it even more impressive, they sailed through the sandcastle Roadblock and easily passed the teams that got to the challenge much earlier (thanks to being on the first flight). Yes, the sandcastle task did require a bit of luck but these hockey brothers did demonstrate adeptness in rebuilding the castles, which seemed to be the biggest problem for the others.

Mona & Beth (Friends/Roller Derby Moms): Team Sock ‘er Moms had a similar performance as Anthony & Bates but not quite as formidable. Thanks to an oversight on their part when signing up for the skydiving, they gave themselves a time penalty of sorts because they had to wait for the last helicopter. The “rush, rush” mentality costs them time but didn’t derail them. For now, I still think they have the toughness and wits to stay in the top of the pack. This ranking is more of a gamble because if they demonstrate similar mistakes, their time is very limited. Please don’t prove me wrong, Mona & Beth.

Jamil & Idries (Twin Doctors): Team Dead Ringers were the ones that succumbed to the heat and exhaustion of the sandcastle Roadblock the most and that put them in the eighth spot. So why am I keeping them in the front? Because I think that they just needed to get the early Race jitters out of the way. I have faith that they are smart and savvy enough to excel in the Race but they must keep their emotions in check (mainly Idries who seems to be the one more prone to emotional outbursts). I am giving them one week to rebound, otherwise, I will have to bump them down the rankings.